


Morning Glory

by queensmercury



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24562432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queensmercury/pseuds/queensmercury
Summary: Newly formed vegetarian vampire Garrett's impulsive decision to save the life of a Forks teenager from a menacing nomad impacts the young girl, the Cullens and the packs more than they ever expected.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Garrett never saw himself valuing human life above supernatural life, particularly his own supernatural life. He never even thought the two forms were equal in any way.

Meeting Kate changed many things for the centuries-old vampire, how much value he saw in the individual humans that surrounded him was just one change the blonde spitfire had brought about.

He thought a lot more, he was generally more conscious. For his first few months of being a "vegetarian", he found himself studying every human that entered his line of vision. As the thirst for their blood began to fade, slowly but surely, what replaced it was a curiosity. He was curious about what each of them considered their purpose in life. Having lived as long as he had, Garrett had been afforded many purposes. He had technically lived many lifetimes by the human standard.

Sometimes, this led to guilt. He didn't vocalize it often, and never in detail, but Kate knew enough without him saying anything. Garrett wondered how many purposes he'd taken away every time he'd fed for all of those centuries. He wondered if some of the brightest human minds had ceased to exist because of him.

These thoughts ran through his mind frequently, but it just made him all the more determined to stick to his new family's diet. Oh, and making Kate proud was an incentive in its own right.

Tanya had been the one to suggest the visit to the Cullens. She thought being surrounded by more vegetarians might quicken his assimilation into the lifestyle. The others agreed. Garrett saw the potentially positive outcome that could ensue with the visit, so he agreed. Tanya suggesting the visit made Garrett feel somewhat ashamed of how little he was able to hide his struggles from the others. They'd been there, he knew that. But it was still difficult being alone in the process.

So they made the journey to Forks, and they were welcomed with open arms by the Cullens. Garrett enjoyed their company. He'd always liked Carlisle, it was why he was so eager and willing to help them against the Volturi. He'd also come to enjoy telling stories to Renesmee about his participation in American battles. Garrett was good with kids, Esme had always told him he would've made a good father.

Tanya and Kate had decided to feed in a different town that night. They didn't want the Cullens to face an off population balance because all fourteen of them were feeding in the same area.

Like he did back home, Garrett took a moment to walk amongst the humans, just to test himself. He always wanted to know if it had gotten any easier to be around them. Sometimes it had, sometimes it hadn't.

"You can't slip up here. We can't do that to the Cullens." Tanya hissed the reminder quietly. Her hands were stuffed in her coat's pockets, wanting to fit in with the humans that littered the street on the exceptionally cold night.

"I feel fine," Garrett assured her. He wasn't lying, he felt the same as he had for the past month or two. It was an effort to avoid feeding, even after just doing so in the middle of the woods ten minutes before. But it was no longer impossible to abstain. That gave Garrett hope that he could get past it, eventually. And that he could live a life -a comfortable life- with Kate, forever.

Still, his instinct to hunt had set in. Even though he'd learned not to act on it, Garrett still noticed more.

He noticed the man two blocks away, who was trying and failing to get his umbrella to open. He noticed an older woman had stepped out of her car and right into a puddle, and now she and her husband were seemingly heading back home, both in irritable moods. He noticed another woman outside of a small grocery store, who was sitting on a bench, on her phone, probably on break. This was the kind of human he would've made a meal out of, had it been a year ago. Distracted, alone, vulnerable.

Then he noticed a girl standing in an alleyway. Garrett figured she probably in high school, based on the sports uniform she was wearing under her light sweatshirt. Probably not the best attire for a human in the current weather. She was on phone, engaging in a combative conversation with a male on the other end of the line. Though he could hear both sides of the conversation, it was almost going too quickly for Garrett to keep up with.

Garrett had been so distracted that he hadn't realized that he'd stopped to listen to the conversation.

"Garrett, come on." Tanya urged. She and Kate were five feet ahead of him now. He listened for a moment or two more before reluctantly walking forward.

"No, wait." Kate's walked toward her mate until her hand met Garrett's chest, pushing him back toward the alley. The blonde didn't have to say anything else. Tanya and Garrett knew.

"It isn't a Cullen," Kate spoke both softly and firmly, inhaling strongly through her nose. Tanya walked toward the couple, realizing they weren't going anywhere.

"What're the odds a nomad shows up the week we come?" Tanya said, her tone as hushed as Kate's had been. The temperature had seemingly dropped within the last few minutes, based on the mannerisms of the people that were walking by them. Tanya crossed her arms over her chest, feigning a reaction to the nippy winds.

Garrett didn't say anything else. His tall body slinked closer to the alleyway where the young girl still stood bickering on the phone.

That's when he saw. A pair of red eyes flicked around on the other side of the alley, behind one of the older brick buildings that the alley was situated between.

The eyes belonged to a male with hair so blonde it all but looked white.

Garrett knew.

"Fucking hell." The brunette said through gritted teeth. Stepping backward and rounding the corner to hide his physical presence.

"You know him?" Kate asked, joining him with her back pressed up against the building.

Garrett peered around the corner slowly, only to find that the man was not aware of his presence, but was rather focused on the teenage girl.

"I'd anything I'm why he's here," Garrett said honestly. The three watched as the blonde began to stalk the oblivious mortal. Garrett had stopped focusing on the girl's conversation, though her gestures and tone seemed to indicate that she was still fighting with whoever she was on the phone with.

"He's gonna kill that girl," Tanya stated. The coven leader's voice had a tendency to showcase the emotions she was feeling. Right then, it was obvious that internally, she was trying to come up with a way to stop the inevitable.

The three watched, horrified as they saw terror cross the girl's face when the man appeared in front of her, seemingly out of nowhere. Her phone had clattered to the pavement.

"I couldn't help but overhear your troubles. I'll make them go away." The Denali girls noticed that the man had a thick German accent. They also noticed the girl's heart rate picking up quickly.

Garrett remembered the countless times it had been him to make a human's heart rate race so instantly.

And it suddenly occurred to him that this girl probably had a family. A family that was expecting her home. A family that had probably gone to her sports game that night. A family that didn't deserve to lose their daughter or their sister or their niece or whatever she was to them.

By the time he'd thought all of it through, he was watching the blonde vampire's teeth sink into the young brunette's arm.

Garrett didn't have time to think now, that was the only thing he could think.

Before he knew it, he'd pushed himself forward and yanked the girl away from the man, throwing her across the alley, her head hitting the wall of bricks.

"Garrett!" Kate's voice held a panicked confusion as she ran toward the girl, Tanya not far behind her. Garrett knew he had created a mess of things, but there wasn't much he could do about it now.

The blonde man dusted off his olive-colored peacoat, straightening himself up before looking Garrett in the eye. A sly smirk ran across his face, and it was that smile that made Garrett remember why he'd made an enemy out of him all those decades ago in the first place.

Without much hesitation, Garrett lunged forward, pinning the man up against the building behind him. Garrett turned back to Kate, who had her right hand behind the girl's head, propping her up.

"She's unconscious from hitting her head but the change is happening. What the hell are we gonna do?" Kate examined the fragile life's every slight move as she relayed her frantic words.

"We still have time, we just need to get her to Carlisle." Tanya was usually much more prone to becoming frazzled than Kate was, but everything about Garrett's change in diet and keeping him steady on the path to assimilating in her family's ways made Kate a wreck. She'd had a hard time with it from the beginning, but she couldn't hide any part of her emotions right then. She almost felt human as she stayed knelt down in that alleyway, the first time she'd felt that close to human since she'd watched the Volturi execute her mother.

"Take her now," Garrett said quickly, struggling to keep the man pinned against the building.

Just like that, the sisters were gone. Garrett finally let up on the man, running a hand through his scruffy beard as he thought of the complications his newly found mindset had caused him and the others, including that girl.

"All that to save the life of a human you don't know?" The man said, taking a step toward Garrett, laughing to himself. "It seems your heart has softened." Garrett looked around, relieved to see that most of the humans had gone home, out of the rain. Garrett's newly amber eyes narrowed as he stepped forward.

"Still hard as stone when it comes to you." Garrett shoved the German man into the brick wall once again. The man still smirked. He was always smirking, even when he was losing. Garrett had known that for as long as he'd known him. The man knew it almost always messed with his opponent's head.

"You don't think I came here for that useless teenager, do you? I've been watching you, Garrett. For months I have. Ever since I heard about your confrontation with the Italians. I know you're what, a vegetarian now? You grow weaker by the day, Garrett. It's sad to see you let yourself go like this." The man chuckled. Garrett was at least a foot taller than the sinister nomad. He was stronger, wittier, but apparently the man was more observant than Garrett.

He tried to hide the fact that he was slightly thrown by the man's admittance to months of stalking. Garrett knew it would all come to a head one day with the German, he just thought he'd end up having more choice in the matter of when and where it happened.  
"Animal blood weakness is a myth, Aldrich. And, in case you didn't notice five minutes ago, you're outnumbered." Garrett had a dry way of speaking, part of his wit. It made people think nothing ever bothered him. But things did bother him, especially right then.

"Not always." Aldrich looked around the lonely, cool street. As if he was reminding Garrett that he was currently alone.

"You will pay for what you did. We both know that you will." Garrett didn't do anything but glower at this remark. "Good luck with that newborn your soft heart lead to the creation of, by the way. I'll see you… around." Was the last thing Aldrich quipped before flitting off into the bitter, rainy night.

Garrett sat with the words for a moment before heading off in his own direction, wanting to know if Aldrich's assumption about the young girl's fate had come to fruition.

Author's note:  
Hello all, to be honest with you, I don't even know if I'm posting this correctly. You may have come across this story on fanfiction.net, where I originally published the work. However, I remembered that this platform existed and thought I might share it with you all. Please let me know your thoughts. I will be publishing a chapter a day and I have 27 chapters written thus far. I hope this is an enjoyable story for someone who comes across it on here, that will make it worthwhile. Please stay safe and know that you are worthy, what with everything going on in the world. I'm sending everyone nothing but love and light!  
-J


	2. Chapter 2

Kate and Tanya made no effort to let the Cullens brace themselves as they rushed their way into the home.

To their surprise, everyone was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs in the entryway of the home. Of course, Alice had seen the trouble coming at some point in the evening. Probably after the three had left for their hunt.

Tanya was holding the girl in her arms as she rushed her to the living room, laying her somewhat frail, convulsing body on the couch.

Kate stopped at the door, looking between all of the Cullens and their furrowed brows. She shook her head, her amber eyes flickering with remorse and worry.

"Carlisle, I'm sorry." She said slowly, shaking her head as she watched the entire family rush after Tanya and the girl.

"How exactly did this happen?" The kind-hearted doctor knelt down beside the girl, who was still only half-conscious. Carlisle checked the woman's pulse more closely than his heightened senses allowed and examined her wound as quickly as he could.

Emmett was forced to take Jasper out of the room as the girl's blood began to spill onto the living room carpet, the scent filling the room more strongly by the second.

"All I saw was you two coming back with her." Alice inserted, peering over Carlisle's shoulder as he gave the girl a more thorough once over before picking her up and taking her into his at-home office.

"Garrett saw someone he knew start to attack her and he just-" Kate followed Carlisle along with everyone else. She couldn't finish her explanation before Bella started to speak.

"Carlisle, this is Charlie's friend's daughter. You have to stop this." The brunette waited outside the medical room's door and hung onto her mate's arm with one hand as the other hand flew to her face, resting on her forehead. Carlisle looked to her, his whole body reading of his unsure state. He was an honest man, so it was never hard to figure out how he was truly feeling.

"I don't know that it isn't too late, Bella." He tried to reason with her.

"You have to try!" Kate watched as Edward pulled Bella into his chest, trying to coax her into calming down. It had little effect, as she thrashed to turn and look back at the doctor.

Carlisle looked up at the bleak ceiling, bracing himself for what he'd done a handful of times before. Clearly, Bella was too hysterical to consider that this was still a hard request of Carlisle, as it would be of any vampire. And there was no way that he could guarantee that the girl's chance at returning to her human life hadn't already slipped away.

"I'll try, everyone needs to leave." The blonde man gestured toward the door suddenly, causing everyone who'd entered the room along with him to usher themselves out. Even with them out of the room, the anxiety still lingered. Carlisle grabbed hold of the girl's wounded arm, squeezing his eyes shut.

The house was quiet as the young girl slept somewhat soundly. They could all hear her steady breathing. Kate sat on the couch with Carlisle and Esme, while Bella and Edward sat on the loveseat next to it. Tanya stood in the corner. The rest of the family sat silently in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry," Kate said once again, looking to make eye contact with Carlisle. She hated to admit it, but she would hold some resentment toward Garrett if this incident in any way severed her coven's relationship with Carlisle and the rest of the Cullens. It was the closest relationship her coven had with any vampires outside of themselves. She needed that. They all did.

"Maybe choose to look at it as progress for him. He saw value in her life." Carlisle's smile was slight, but it was there. This brought Kate some solace as she was forced to endure the silence. It didn't seem so uncomfortable anymore.

"She knows me. Our dads have been friends since high school. That'll help. My dad took Renesmee to her volleyball game yesterday afternoon." Bella's words brought Kate even more comfort.

The front door suddenly swung open, and it was Garrett. Kate felt a pang of guilt when she saw how lost and upset he looked. He was sort of slumped in his stature, something Kate always reserved as a human tendency.

"Everything's taken care of," Esme said warmly. That was another trait most of their kind reserved for humans: warmth. But Esme had this.

"She's alright?" Garrett walked forward, taking off the coat he'd taken with him hours before to fit in with the humans who'd been out and about.

Kate made the choice to console her mate, walking to him. She saw that none of it had been on purpose. And she saw that Carlisle was right. This was a reflection of how far Garrett had come. She could only love him more for that.

"She'll be fine. Bella knows her, actually. Which makes it easier to explain it all away." Carlisle reassured his friend, gesturing for Garrett to join everyone in the living room. Kate pushed him forward, encouraging him to follow through with Carlisle's invitation.

Garrett sat where Kate had been sitting, and Kate made herself at home on his lap, therapeutically running her fingers through his thick, dark brown hair.

"We have to keep an eye on her. All of us. The nomad in town tonight, it was sort of my fault. He's an old complication from World War 2. Been after me off and on ever since." Garrett admitted. He thought about what could happen if he let that detail go. Not that he really could forego the information. Edward must've been hearing it race through his mind, repeating over and over.

"It won't be hard to keep tabs, she knows me." Garrett's eyes darted around the room as Bella explained things to him aloud. "Hey, it's okay. You know, her dad and my dad have known each other since grade school. Her mom died like two years ago, I know he's really relied on her. I don't know what he would've done if she'd gone missing." Bella admitted.

The tension loosened in Garrett's upper body as she said this. Then, he began to wonder how many other people had been left destroyed by the disappearance of their loved one that he'd decided to feast on. Well, now he'd saved one. That gave him some peace of mind amongst the mounds of guilt that hoarded his mind. He never thought he'd feel such guilt, he'd reasoned with it and shrugged it off for centuries. But there he was, considering the young girl's father, and how alone he would've felt without his daughter, what he might have done if he'd found himself all alone in the world with her gone.

"We'll just say you three were out to dinner when you found she'd been attacked by an animal in a lot nearby. You were staying here, so you thought it might be best to take her straight to Carlisle rather than deal with the hospital. Bella recognized her, so we decided to let her rest here afterward because what was the point in moving her?" Edward put forth his plan. His comments gathered nods and murmurs of agreement from the others in the room before the silence set back in.

"I'm gonna go wait in the room for her to wake up. Hopefully, she'll be less freaked when she wakes up." Carlisle nodded his approval as Bella got up and left the room quickly.

Another silence didn't have time to settle before Carlisle spoke up again.

"Let's watch a movie, shall we?" He laughed shortly before aiming the gray remote at the large flatscreen. No matter how big the television though, it seemed an impossible task to rid the room of everyone's tension for the next few hours.

Author's Note:

This is a shorter chapter, but I thought it best to upload it separately from the next set of events. I'm sorry if it's been a bit slow thus far, I promise it will pick up sooner rather than later! Please R&R if you feel inclined, it really helps with motivation. The next chapter should be up tomorrow!  
-J


End file.
